Thailand to block Bitget in December over unlicensed crypto trading

Thailand's SEC operates under the 2018 Royal Decree on Digital Asset Businesses, which requires any exchange serving Thai residents to hold a local license. Bitget, one of the larger offshore platforms by trading volume, has operated in the kingdom without one, following a pattern regulators there have pursued before against unlicensed foreign platforms. GMO Internet's attempt to acquire a Thai-licensed entity tied to Bitget shows the compliance route exchanges increasingly choose rather than contest a ban outright.

From Dec. 5, 2026, Thai residents lose direct access to Bitget's website, associated domains and mobile app, pushing existing users toward licensed domestic platforms or workarounds like VPNs. BG Limited, the operator named in the criminal complaint, now faces Thai prosecution rather than just a access restriction. GMO Internet has compressed its own timeline, moving the local share transfer to Nov. 30, five days before the block takes effect, to clear regulatory procedures in time.

The case tests whether offshore exchanges can keep serving a market by racing to acquire a licensed local shell before a deadline, rather than building compliance from scratch. A government blocking a major platform's domains and app while a related ownership deal is still being finalized shows enforcement and dealmaking moving on separate, barely synchronized clocks. Whether the GMO transaction actually restores lawful access for Thai users, or simply changes who owns the entity being prosecuted, remains genuinely unresolved. (per coindesk.com)

The Dec. 5, 2026 block date is the firm deadline: if GMO Internet's share transfer, now targeted for Nov. 30, closes beforehand and satisfies Thai regulators, Bitget's local arm could continue operating under new ownership. If it slips past Dec. 5, users face the access restriction regardless of the deal's status. The criminal complaint against BG Limited also proceeds independently, and its outcome will determine whether a change of ownership resolves the underlying unlicensed-activity charge.